In a previous post about being a secret agent reminded me of a situation that I have been faced with. People don't like to talk about it - I guess that's because we all like to believe nothing like this will ever happen to us.
I know some of you have been contacted by a person that maybe you were unsure about and I know that some of you have been put in uncomfortable situations before.
I tell my story to anyone who will listen because if I come up missing or something then someone may remember and will come forward with some helpful information. My first reaction was to take my picture and contact information off my website, but that just shows fear on my part to this person and I refuse to let him win. I want all potential customers to know that I am a real person. I get to know all of you by your pictures on a daily basis - it's nice to always have a face to the words - that's why my picture is on my website!
The problem is that internet stalking is very real and happenes every day to people and it's way to easy for someone to find out any information about you that they want (In my case, the person found my home address). If you are contacted by someone who wants to "stalk" you, good luck getting help!
I think more needs to be done to educate us Realtors of internet saftey because we are exposed for the whole world to see. I will admit, I am not the smartest person with knowledge about protecting my private information and I was a little niave about something happening to me.
I did sign up for a 1-800 service that's really cheap and easy to use (it was suggested to me by another agent) - all calls are forwarded to my personal cell phone. The problem is - it cost me more money to receive phone calls when this person calls me.